About Ex-Minister Website
What will Ex-Minister do as an organization? About Ex-Minister organization WHAT
IS EX-MINISTER? Ex-minister.org
is a fellowship of ex-ministers
& ex-Christians that left
the faith for conscientious
and intellectual reasons. We
feel that people should be
instructed and encouraged to
depart the institutional road of
religion. The founder, Brian
Worley was an ordained
Independent Baptist minister
that walked away from the faith
in 1999 (he was a Christian for
23 years). We understand that
faith is both very personal and
important to those of you that
believe. You may feel that we
are evil and blinded to what you
call the truth, many of us have
had this same feeling as well!
We were sincere in our
faith and many of us walked away
from our churches, educational
degrees, and future career as a
minister at a great price. We
had much to lose for these
decisions, including our careers
and income, we also lost
“friends” that do not
understand us. The truths that
we found changed our minds and
we followed our consciences.
Since
my de-conversion, it has taken
me some time to discover the
best fit and what I should call
myself when someone else asks me
for my position. For the record,
I am a committed secular
humanist that feels that this
position is the best of
the post-Christian alternatives.
As for atheism, I just
don’t care to chase the “God
question rabbit” around
because it is an unanswerable
question in my view. In brief, I
believe in reason, love and
humanity rather than faith or
reliance upon any system that
has a pretense that it was
derived from a deity. I dislike
dogmatic atheists as much as I
dislike dogmatic fundamentalists
(both are intolerant)!
Personally, I don’t care if
you believe in Jesus or Mohammed
or whatever as long as you are a
good person! Do you seek to make
a positive difference in your
world? Do you take care of your
own business; honor your own
commitments and would others say
the same about you? Think before
you answer these questions. For
a truly good person seeks to
verify that they are true in all
of their dealings (this would
include intellectual honesty).
What better place can one go
than a site like this where
people that really know the
Bible will scrutinize your
belief system? If the truth is
really upon your side as a
Christian, then what harm is
there in examining a differing
viewpoint than what you’re
getting at your church? The
case against faith is very
strong, and understandable to
those who can both reason, and
are willing
to read.
You don’t need a
college education to understand,
you just need to be a seeker of
truth.
Enjoy the site and refer
people to Ex-minister.org if you
find that it was helpful. THE
BRIEF HISTORY OF EX-MINISTER
Leaving
the faith can be a lonely
experience. In my case, I
certainly felt isolated and was
uncertain of the road ahead of
me.
One never heard about
Christians, especially ministers
repudiating their faith. These
things certainly happened in the
past, but the effect was like a
tree that fell in a forest, if
nobody heard it…did it make a
sound? Where
do ex-ministers go once they
leave their profession?
Personally, it took me four
years to answer this question. I
recall an old dog of ours that
ran away when it was sick,
evidentially it didn’t want to
cause us the pain of watching
him die.
In 1999 at 36 years of
age, I wasn’t going to
perpetuate the “Christian life
insurance” plan, which I liken
to a “Ponzi scheme”. The
desire to serve humanity (like a
minister should) still burned
inside. Although the ministry
was gone, I wanted to make an
honest living with the rest of
my life! My intention isn’t so
much about “saving people”
as it is about providing
affirmation for those in the
valley of doubt! Four years
later in 2003, the idea for
Ex-minister was born. I
hope that sharing my experiences
and insight might inspire people
to greater heights beyond Jesus.
I secured the domain name in February 2003. Personal circumstances kept me on the sidelines until 2007; this was when I actively began to write articles. The first page placed onto the web was my home page, this was sometime in 2005. In 2007, my wife took a 2 hour class on website building and soon thereafter she posted my "How Faith/Religion Robs Man" as my first essay to the website. Since I have no staff or volunteers, it is my amateur Webmaster skills that are on display (laughs). Should some professional website designer want to donate their services to the cause, I would be interested to see what you could do to improve the look or functioning of this website. I would clearly acknowledge you or your company as the designer and hopefully others would seek you for future business! About the name Ex-minister Although
I am an ex-minister, I didn't
want people to have to hassle
with the hyphen when they were
behind the keyboard! This is why
I originally secured the
exminister.org address back in
2003, rather than the proper ex-minister.org.
In time, I understood that with
the serious content nature of
the site, that I needed to do
what I needed to do! Since I
have recently secured the ex-minister.org
domain name, I have been
enabled to use the properly
spelled ex-minister address and
yet keep everything else under
the un-hyphenated address for
internet purposes. If one types
in the hyphenated it will
forward to the original
un-hyphenated web address.
The .org “suffix” of Ex-minister.org/Exminister.org
is World Wide Web nomenclature,
some might erroneously imply
that we are an organization (at
this point we are just a
fellowship). I regret any
confusion that this might bring.
Often when I mention Ex-minister
or "we", it is just a
euphemism for myself. To avoid
confusion when discussing
another minister that has left
the faith, I will usually
express that the said
personality is a former minister
(not an ex-minister). Brief
info about the founder
Brian Worley was an ordained Baptist minister that was on church staffs in Tennessee and California as a Christian minister. I graduated with a B.S. degree from the Division of Bible and Christian Ministries at Tennessee Temple University in 1990. August 29, 1999 was the last Sunday that I attended church prior to my leaving the faith. I left without the security of knowing how I would be earning a future living and went into sales. Since leaving the ministry, I have primarily worked in sales and sales management within the furniture industry. Although my personal sales & sales management numbers were stellar, four of my employers either went bankrupt or abruptly closed their businesses due to finances from 1999 to 2006! These financial struggles are what had kept the website "sidelined" from 2003-2006. My wife, Everita and I had decided that with all of the economic uncertainty we experienced, that we would venture out on our own in her native Latvia. Everita is quite a woman, beyond being smart, charming and beautiful, she has a Masters in Economics from a Norwegian University and had held a four year elected position on the Latvian National Broadcasting Council. We have a lovely young daughter together and a lot of joy at home!
Everita
& Brian PHILOSOPHY/STRATEGY
TOWARDS THEISTS
People
love to classify or label you
because it is a convenient way
for them to understand your
message. The problem is that
this is rather impersonal and
people are viewed as subjects,
rather than as a living,
breathing individual human
being. When you unplug from the
labels (Christian, atheist,
etc.) it is easier to recognize
the other, as sharing and
desiring the same respect that
humanity should normally render
to each other. Labels tend to
separate and divide people
towards an “us versus them”
mentality. Humanism isn’t a
divisive label; after all we are
identified as human beings. I
seek to reach the decision maker
within thinking Christians. If
someone (Christian) doesn’t
have the interest or capacity to
understand the case against
faith, I don’t like to push
the issue and further alienate
them! Since Christianity is a
faith position, in time given
the usual “ebb and flow” of
the strength of an individuals
commitment, there should be a
time when the individual’s
faith softens and that they
might be open to listen to a
viewpoint like Ex-minister
espouses. A person needs to be
receptive to a message in order
to properly consider it. In
turn, we need to be
approachable, by being available
with a non-cocky attitude. When
we express warmth and respect
their humanity, they just might
talk with us. Now, what if they
don’t? Then it is evident that
they are either not ready or
interested and I should be
patient
and non-manipulative. I will be
around when or if they become
ready! You
might think that this approach
is passive. What do I do against
the aggressive fundamentalists?
Remember, I am seeking to
reach the decision maker that is
an open and thinking Christian.
To a certain degree, I think the
fundamentalist are easier to
reach because they are sensitive
to matters that are considered
to be truths. These are the
types that are interested in
Bible errors and contradictions.
Once they see and accept the
fact that the Bible does contain
errors, their faith world begins
to either unravel or they will
go into denial and turn up their
aggressive mentality! These
types are like the bully that
you remember back from high
school, you just have to
confront them and make them
retreat! Mixing it up with them
isn’t pleasant but if you know
how to handle them you will
always advance your cause on the
public stage (if you maintained
a level head and was cordial).
Why? Because it takes a
lot of energy to keep
suppressing reason, eventually
the seeds of reason will likely
take root. I
always try to isolate
individuals and talk to them
like I would a friend. But when
they bring their agenda public
we cannot sit idle and be
passive. Aggressive
fundamentalists aren’t
reasonable people in fact they
hate reason! When Jesus told
them to turn the other cheek,
they didn’t listen to him
either. With this understanding,
humanist must know that you
can’t let down, back off for
if you do, they will try to take
more ground. Silence is
acquiescence to them. Humanism
requires a backbone or it is as
worthless as fundamentalism! There
is another reason that a proper
approach should be discussed!
There is a crowd of rabid
atheist around that must have
learned their tactics from rabid
fundamentalists!
These cannot get along
with people, have little to no
people skills and are simply
uncouth. They are a detriment to
our cause! How do I know this? I
have butte I
was taught in Pastoral classes
to build up people and to tear
down rotten ideology! I think
that people have it backwards
when they tear down people and
build up rotten ideology like
rabid atheism! I decided a long
time ago that Ex-minister
wouldn’t follow that path.
Unfortunately, my
philosophy isn’t that popular
on the web today and I’m
getting a little lonely. I am
counting on folks like you the
reader to help me swing
the pendulum of momentum towards
a positive approach. I
think the dogmatic atheism
position is repulsive to many
people. These types of websites
drive good people away because
reasonable people don’t like
the conflict. If they are unable
to find a better alternative
they might just withdraw and
Christianity would be the
benefactor.
I would liken my approach
to a business that understands
the value of good public
relations with an effective
sales plan. So this is where
Ex-minister positions itself in
the marketplace of godless
media.
I would love to hear from
those of you (personal,
organizations or websites) that
agree with me! EMAILS/CONTACT I returned to the US in February 2010 and currently live in the Washington, DC area. I chose DC because the job market is perceived to be stronger here and that it locates me in an area where I can meet folks whom would be instrumental in the launching of the organization. Until I get settled in (job, permanent residence) emailing me at brian@exminister.org is the only way to reach me at this time. If you are friendly towards us, email first and then we could discuss matters further over the telephone. Strange, but a peacemaking organization like Ex-Minister has had frequent cyber attacks upon the website...I have lost 3 computers even though McAfee (which "protected" my last felled computer was on guard). I mention this to alert you that I am not certain the extent of the damages or that prior emails that have been exchanged have reached their intended destinations. It's terrible....wish I had the funds to get much needed top-notch protection/host for the website. It is one of the needs upon our support page. Placing my email address in your “allowed list” is strongly suggested! I will usually acknowledge friendly and inquisitive correspondence. Due to time limitations, if a response is warranted to your email you could normally expect me to answer it within 4-5 days, if not sooner. If I fail to do this, please try again because I may not have received your email. At
times, I get emails from people
that are irritated; seeking to
play games or provoke me to
anger; or trying to change my
point of view. It is up to my
discretion to use or publish
your email elsewhere unless you
mark it as “not for
publication”. Any email that
you send to Ex-minister that
does not state that it is “not
for publication”, may be
published by Ex-minister on its
blog or elsewhere.
To those of you that are:
pushy, divisive, annoying or
that I suspect that you have an
agenda…you will probably be
ignored! The best way to contact me is by email: brian@exminister.org
Brian
Worley Ex-Minister.org
February 23, 2010 All
rights reserved
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